High school softball: Kirtland offense roughs up Kenston in DH sweep

After taking some lumps earlier this season, the rapidly maturing Kirtland softball team is enjoying dishing out said lumps nowadays.

Freshman Hallie Ward's Game 2 cycle capped an impressive day by the Hornets on Saturday, a day in which Kirtland scored 18 runs on 19 hits in an 8-4, 10-2 doubleheader sweep of Kenston.

"We were up in the strike zone all day -- both pitchers -- and it really cost us," Kenston coach Jeff DeBonis said. "Take nothing away from Kirtland. They can hit. I mean they can really hit."

Of the 19 hits the Hornets clubbed off Bombers pitching, eight went for extra bases. Sydney Choe, Kirtland's lone senior, blasted a pair of home runs and Ward added one -- a monstrous shot to left to lead off Game 2.

Advertisement

The Hornets (7-4) ripped deep triples, such as Ward's two three-baggers (one in each game). They sprayed doubles, such as Ward's fence-banging bomb in Game 2. And they played magnificent small-ball, scoring on a trio of Game 2 suicide squeeze bunts.

"I think it's all coming together," said Kirtland coach Tony Scibelli, whose team has won six straight after a 1-4 start. "The first couple of weeks we were a young team. I think now that the jitters are going, we have a lot of confidence up at bat."

It took a little time for Kirtland to hit a groove. Through four innings in the opening game, the Hornets had only one hit off of Kenston starter Stephanie Gorup. Besides Choe's two-out homer to center in the third, Kirtland had done nothing at the plate.

But with two outs in the fifth inning, Kirtland caught fire, starting with Ward's triple to left. After a pair of walks loaded the bases, Casie Stark ripped a bases-clearing double to right-center to make it 4-1.

Following an infield single by Sarah Steigerwald, Sam Bagdasarian clubbed a two-run double to complete the five-run, two-out uprising to cement a 6-1 lead.

"Two outs, nobody on, and bam, the floodgates opened," DeBonis said. "It was like, 'Wow, that changed in a hurry.' We lost our composure."

As well as the momentum for the day, which they never got back.

From the fifth inning of Game 1 to the end of Game 2, Kirtland batted .410 (18-for 44) and scored 17 runs in those eight innings.

No one stood out more than Ward. After homering to lead off the second game, Ward doubled and tripled in her next two at-bats. Needing a single for the cycle, she hit a grounder in the hole between short and third for an infield single.

"The last inning, my friend told me about (the possibility of the cycle)," Ward said. "It got me thinking. I just wanted to make contact with the ball.

"I was (surprised I saw a strike). I just wanted to do what I could for my team."

Ward was the winning pitcher in the second game, scattering five hits.

The winning pitcher in the opener was Kayla Davidson, who pitched a four-hitter and retired the final nine batters of the game after giving up a solo home run to Kenston sophomore Paige Palmer.

Junior Katie Gross had three hits in the second game for Kenston.

Said DeBonis of the youthful Bombers, "We're learning the hard way."

Saturday's lesson was courtesy of the Hornets, who seem to be heating up with the weather.

With Choe being the only senior on the team, the future is bright for Scibelli and Co. The way the team is playing -- and hitting -- of late, so is the present.

"The last five games, we've been hitting with a lot of power and for a pretty high average, too," Scibelli said. "It's exciting to see."